Doom Porn of the Week -- Cell Phone Searches at Border Crossings

Well this article sounds like “doom porn” – choc-full of dire warnings of doom-and-gloom & imminent zombie apocalypse. But its true...

Read too many “doom porn” articles and the constant threat of certain disaster can leave you adrenaline addicted!

But sometimes the stories are true and the concern is warranted.

Yes. we don’t want terrorists, thugs, and other bad guys entering our country. But why does the 4th Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizures not apply to Americans crossing the border?

The current spike in cell phone seizures are a result of border search policies, written in 2009 (Obama administration, of course), need to be revised to restore our rights.

“The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States protects American citizens from "unreasonable searches and seizures" and requires "probable cause" to obtain a warrant for such searches. But there are two places where the Fourth Amendment doesn't apply, even for U.S. citizens, and that's at border crossings and airports. Now, according to an investigation by NBC News, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials are seriously ramping up efforts to take advantage of that fact.”

“In fact, data provided by the Department of Homeland Security to NBC showed that searches of cellphones by border agents have exploded, growing fivefold in just one year, from fewer than 5,000 in 2015 to nearly 25,000 in 2016. Moreover, 2017 is expected to be a blockbuster year with 5,000 devices searched in February alone, more than in all of 2015.”

………….…

"One such example came from a Buffalo, New York couple, Akram Shibly and Kelly McCormick, who were detained by U.S. Customs & Border Protection officers upon their return to the U.S. after a trip to Toronto on Jan. 1, 2017. According to NBC, officers held the couple for two hours, took their cellphones and demanded their passwords.”

“....the practice began a decade ago, late in the George W. Bush administration, and really ramped up in the last two years of the Obama administration following domestic terrorist attacks in Orlando and San Bernadino.”

……………

“Meanwhile, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) says that as early as next week he plans to propose a bill that would require CBP to at least obtain a warrant to search the electronics of U.S. citizens, and explicitly prevent officers from demanding passwords.”